A Cross the Universe

The Toronto premier of Justice's new tour documentary, A Cross the Universe, was screened at CiRCA nightclub Wednesday, hours prior to the French duo's ripping midnight set to over a thousand sweaty fans.

The Ed Banger brand has always been about the endless party, so with cameras following Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Auge 24/7 during a North American tour you expect a lot of tits, drunks and heavy metal disco as teased in the trailer. You get it but you don't.

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As he deftly demonstrated in the Stress video, Gavras has a taste for ugliness. He dials down the glamour of Justice's bacchanalian exploits in favour of displaying cringe-worthy Americanisms. Heart-stopping hamburgers, Hooters girl photo shoots, Auge's surreal fake wedding in Vegas and a disarmingly large amount of time devoted to gun stores, people shooting guns and a stage manager becoming increasingly unhinged with his firearm. You get the sense Gavras is making a point about American society, as Justice lose themselves in their circus-like surroundings.

Save for some Playboy mansion style partying at their Coachella stop, most of the backstage action crushes the rock star fantasy. The groupies are barely-legal and embarrassing, nobody you could picture talking to for more than 10 minutes, which raises the uncomfortable question of why there isn't a single woman in the film that isn't portrayed as toys for the boys.

The most compelling scene involves a violent altercation between de Rosnay and a face-blurred fan who accosts him in a parking lot, where de Rosnay proves he's no precious rock star as he's rushed to the stage with a bandaged hand immediately after.

Fans hoping for some kind of insight into the group will likely be disappointed, as we are subjected to more interview time with their bus driver, gravel-voiced Roger, than with Justice. And there's a grating amount of throwaway footage that should have hit the editing room floor. But to Justice's Youtube generation fan base, with their cell phone quality video standards, this will probably look like an Oscar contender.